Hi. Are you looking for Molly? Ive been searching everywhere and I cant seem to find Molly.

Chances are that you, especially if youre a student, heard that lyric from Cedric Gervaiss track Molly sometime last summer. You may have heard it on the radio, at a venue, or most likely at a music festival. These music festivals are fantastic: they are fantastic, often weekend-long, and make Woodstock pale in comparison. While this sounds exciting, there is a dark side. That side needs no introduction at this point, that side is Molly. In famous former mega-festival (Ultra Miami, Electric Zoo, etc.) promoter Shane Morriss controversial expository article on dance music culture points out, Molly is just a marketing term that belies the dark truth. As ecstasy earned notoriety for causing deaths and for having impurities, Molly was promoted as solid crystals in capsules, thereby declaring the drugs purity. While the chemical MDMA is the supposed active ingredient in Molly, Morris reveals the sad irony that this is far from the truth. Molly is produced by, Meth cooks entering their second career, (Morris, 2013). He explains the marketing logic as follows: Meth may have been vilified but Molly is cool, and it's fun, and everyone should do it, (Morris, 2012). With its name, Molly is a wolf in a cute, big-eyed, pig-tailed toddlers clothing. Behind Mollys glitzy, fashionable culture are the numbers: the amount of partiers who are dropping like flies (Morris, 2013). Adding insult to injury, these numbers are swept under the rug, to paint a business-friendly, safe picture of Molly. A quick perusal of NIDAs website will reveal that MDMA and the various adulterants in Molly cause neuro-hormonal deficiencies (serotonin hangovers), cardiovascular stress, disruption of circadian rhythms, interference with the bodys ability to regulate temperature (remember that enzymes work optimally at 37 C), and, in tandem, a jeopardy to a users metabolism. A closer reading of NIDAs page on MDMA describes that the same hormonal experience (via vasopressin and oxytocin) that creates a euphoric eusociality can make users too trusting and vulnerable. This effect has also contributed to a rise in STDs due to unprotected sex between users who become intimate through use of the drug (NIDA, 2013). One study even revealed that occasional use induces changes in the brain consistent with normal aging and, development of depression. MDMAIt is also toxic to the metencephalon (pons and cerebellum) and hippocampus, meaning that a users movement and cognitive abilities deteriorate from its useMDMA (Kelly, 2000). Yet, it seems like most users are willing to trade physical health for an epic experience once in a while. Users include teens, college students, young professionals, and even the middle-aged (Alexander, 2013). Todays college students, along with most of our urbanized country, live hectic lives. In this electronic age, work, tasks, formalities, and other factors take over us. We neglect our sleep and diets, and do not even achieve organic human interactions. In such contexts, MDMA is a clear choice for many young professionals looking to unwind after a hectic week. It is cheaper than a bar tab, promotes love rather than fighting, and is normalized (see 2nd paragraph). Users report that they compensate for lost social intimacy when using MDMA (Alexander, 2013) According to Rick Doblin, founder of The MultidiciplinaryMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a major researcher and funder of psychedelic studies,

As we move more and more electronic, people are extremely hungry for the opposite: human interaction on a deeper level where youre not rushing around, the rise of Molly is in tune with how people are feeling emotionally. (Alexander, 2013). The facts essentially lead to the conclusion that each individual must weigh the risks versus rewards and make histheir own informed decisions. How did MDMA even become a phenomenon, though? Alexander Shulgin, a UC Berkley and DEA psychopharmacologist created, tested, and recorded most psychedelics, including his favorite: MDMA. Shulgin told his friend, psychiatrist Dr. Leo Zeff, about its ability to induce profound emotional progress on deep issues in users, and Zeff wanted to try it. Amazed by the effects, Zeff became Johnny Appleseed of MDMA, developing MDMA assisted psychotherapy and spreading it to the medical community (Shulgin and Shulgin, 1991). However, rampant illicit use led the DEA and FDA to deem MDMA a Schedule I substance in 1985 extreme abuse potential and no medical value. Crushed medical and scientific communities would have to wait to make progress (rather than condemnation research) in MDMA studies for about 2 decades (NIDA, 2013). Recently, progressive advocates, researchers, and doctors (like Dr. Rick Doblin) have been exploring the potential for harnessing MDMAs effects for legitimate use. One study showed that MDMA psychotherapy produced an 83% response rate (as compared to 25% in placebo) in traditional-treatment-resistant, PTSD induced by combat, and , sexual, emotional, and physical violence/abuse (Mithoefer et al, 2010). Mithoefer proposes an interesting physiological model for the debilitating psychiatric condition. He explains that MDMAs effects allow patients to revisit traumatic experience and tolerate them long enough to reach closure through extinction. This is somewhat similar to the flooding method of eliminating phobia, but the MDMA patients exhibited statistically insignificant neurocognitive, physiological, and psychological stress (Mithoefer et al, 2010). A 2-year follow up study showed that MDMA produced residual therapeutic effects, general growing benefits, no evidence of physiological harm, and no evidence of dependence (Mithoefer et al, 2012). Mithoefer used DSM-IV criteria, selfreport/questionnaire comparisons, and CAPS scores (PTSD metric) to determine these results. However, with a prescription drug epidemic in the USA, MDMA therapy may be a risky enterprise to develop. Despite all this talk of Molly and harm, NIDA does admit that MDMA has therapeutic value in PTSD and palliative care (NIDA, 2013). MDMA also has recreational risks and benefits (not Molly or ecstasy), and users need to make calculated choices while always tending to their bodys needs. Amidst all the subjectivity, there seems to be some objective truth, however. In the name of progress, our society needs to be progressive and approach this topic with an open mind. Unilaterally negative views of traditionally recreational drugs preclude ourtheir ability to heal so many patients.